A zoo in Denmark wants you to give its lazy carnivores free handouts in the form of your small, unwanted pets. In unrelated news, someone's timeline for moving into that dream condo just got moved up.
"If you have a healthy animal that needs to be given away for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us," the Aalborg Zoo wrote in Facebook and Instagram posts, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Rest assured, the donated pets will be "gently euthanized" by trained staff before becoming some washed up apex predator's cheat meal.
"That way, nothing goes to waste," the zoo said, "and we ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators."
Naturally, this sparked some outrage on social media.
"What a bunch of sociopaths, a zoo should care about all animals," wrote one netizen.
"F*ck the Aalborg Zoo," seethed another.
In its posts, the zoo argues that it's simply imitating the natural processes of the food chain, minus its occasionally cruel vicissitudes. And it specified that it's asking for animals like chickens, rabbits, and guinea pigs. (It didn't mention cats and dogs, if it makes a difference.)
Some experts are defending the zoo's practice.
"If you agree to the general principle that you have carnivorous animals in a zoo, you somehow succumb to the necessity that you have to feed them animal material," Marcus Clauss, co-director of the Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife at the University of Zurich, told the Washington Post. "If you do this in a way that is not primarily directed at economics, but at animal welfare, you will strive to get animals that had high welfare, ideally."
... continue reading